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Published: November 6th 2008
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Mcleod Ganj is not an easy place to get to but is well worth the hassle. A seven hour bus ride to Dharamsala, then a trip up the mountain to Mcleod Ganj on Indias public buses was quite trying. We were rewarded with the most beautiful little town in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Our guest house is cheap as chips with a view out over the valley from every room where we can watch the cows wandering aimlessly, mongoose hunting for snakes and the monkeys being downright naughty. This morning we were greeted by the biggest group of monkeys I have ever seen climbing all over the building and trees in front. They had tipped over all the bins and were stealing peolpes washing. I now understand where the term cheeky monkey comes from. After my brutal attack by one in Delhi I am now a bit wary whenever they are around.
As Steve explained in his previous blog, Mcleod Ganj is home to the exiled Tibetan people and as such has a very different feel to the other places we have visited in India. For one it is cold. This is an absolute blessing for me as I
have been sweating my you-know-whats off for the last five months. The weather is gorgeous though as it is still warm during the day with the bluest skies I have ever seen, then it gets cold at night.
We had planned to stay for a few days and head down into Rajastan but after a while we realised that we did not want to leave so have opted to stay for longer and miss a couple of places out. A hard choice but when you find somewhere you really like it is hard to leave.
The food here is a real mix which is welcome after having Indian food every day. Not that I dont like Indian food but it has made me put on about two stone in the last month (at a guess) as its all carbs and sauce and cooked in too much oil.
Up here it is mostly vegetarian but with really nice, fresh veg and Tibetan food is yummy. I have become a little addicted to the homemade Tibetan brown bread and veg soup with lots of black pepper mmmm. Also the momos are delicious little parcels, like small cornish pasties but steamed or
fried. They also have the best indian restaurant we have found so far called Taste of India. The sauces are near perfect, not too spicy but full of flavour and no oil. We had a chicken muglai with stuffed roasted peppers that did not even touch the sides we enjoyed it so much.
To work off all this food I have started yoga classes, well I've been to two but its a start! Even though I am doing a beginers class it was so much harder than I thought it would be and after a two hour class I hurt the next day. Will try to keep going with it though as you can do yoga everywhere in India and classes are cheap.
We also did a one day trek in the mountains. If you are planning to come here then dont waste money on a guide as you can easily do it on your own. The trek was four hours uphill to a place called Triund. As me and Steve are a little unfit due to not being able to exercise in India we found it pretty tough. At one point our guide was strolling along, texting
on his phone whilst we puffed and panted behind him. It was worth it when we got to the top as the view of the Himalayas was amazing. I wish we had done the two day trek as you can camp at Triund and waking up to that view would be pretty special. After a lunch of rice and dal we headed back down for the three hour downhill stretch. We were both hurting the next day.
As Steve has already mentioned we took part in a conversational English class with former political prisoners from Tibet. For me this was the most humbling experience I have had on our travels. I found it very difficult to make small talk with a nun who had been imprisoned just for being a nun, possibly beaten and tortured and escaped by foot over the Himalayas to India. What do you say "so, whats your favourite colour? did you catch big brother last night?" Whenever we tried to talk about anything else the subject always came back to Tibet. She told me how she has family in Tibet still who are farmers but it is very hard to stay in contact as the
Chinese tap all their phone lines and make communication very difficult.
I was profoundly moved by her story and it really made me realise again just how lucky we are to have the basic freedoms we take for granted. Anyway, I'll get down off my soap box now.
There are loads of volunteering opportunities here and loads of stuff going on. For such a small town you could easily spend a few months here without noticing the time go by.
A lot of the Tibetans here make money by making handicrafts and jewellery so the shopping here is great. So far I have limited myself to a gorgeous silk-wool scarf and a pair of earings but these people have to make a living, I'm just doing my bit to help the cause hee hee.
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JO
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Just such an incrdible journey
I can't read these any more without getting a lump in my throat - you really are going on such an incredible journey. I think of myself as a reasonably educated person but am learning so much just by reading these blogs. Love all the pictures - I can see how you'd like to stay in this place for a very long time....love you x x x